SELECTED QUARTERLY FINANCIAL DATA (UNAUDITED) (Details) (USD $) In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Net Sales	$ 4,191	$ 3,736	$ 4,443	$ 5,251	$ 5,454	$ 5,345	$ 5,434	$ 5,011	$ 17,621	$ 21,244	$ 19,484
Gross Margin	3,116	2,749	3,198	3,948	4,087	3,938	3,953	3,668	13,011	15,646
Net Earnings/(Loss)	924	(713)	808	1,482	1,231	1,355	1,307	1,367	2,501	5,260	4,513
Net Earnings/(Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	(1)	(2)	163	381	379	386	405	381	541	1,551	1,411
Net Earnings/(Loss) Attributable to BMS	925	(711)	645	1,101	852	969	902	986	1,960	3,709	3,102
Earnings/(Loss) per Share - Basic	$ 0.56	$ (0.43)	$ 0.38	$ 0.65	$ 0.50	$ 0.57	$ 0.53	$ 0.58	$ 1.17	$ 2.18	$ 1.80
Earnings/(Loss) per Share - Diluted	$ 0.56	$ (0.43)	$ 0.38	$ 0.64	$ 0.50	$ 0.56	$ 0.52	$ 0.57	$ 1.16	$ 2.16	$ 1.79
Cash dividends declared per common share	$ 0.35	$ 0.34	$ 0.34	$ 0.34	$ 0.34	$ 0.33	$ 0.33	$ 0.33	$ 1.37	$ 1.33	$ 1.29
Cash and cash equivalents	1,656	1,503	2,801	2,307	5,776	4,471	3,665	3,405	1,656	5,776	5,033	7,683
Marketable securities	4,696	5,125	5,968	6,307	5,866	6,541	6,739	6,453	4,696	5,866
Total Assets	35,897	36,044	31,667	32,408	32,970	32,014	31,833	30,851	35,897	32,970
Long-term debt	7,232	7,227	5,209	5,270	5,376	5,437	5,332	5,276	7,232	5,376
Equity	13,638	13,900	15,812	16,246	15,867	16,436	16,145	15,901	13,638	15,867
Charges and Credits Affecting Comparability	400	2,118	240	(15)	117	112	118	98	2,743	445
Income tax/(tax benefit) on items above	(156)	(722)	(77)	8	(37)	(37)	(34)	(28)	(947)	(136)
Specified tax benefit	(392)				(26)		(15)	(56)	(392)	(97)
(Increase)/Decrease to Net Earnings	(148)	1,396	163	(7)	54	75	69	14	1,404	212
Accelerated Depreciation Asset Impairment And Other Shutdown Costs [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Charges and Credits Affecting Comparability			147		15	19	18	23	147	75
Amortization Of Acquired Intangible Assets [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Charges and Credits Affecting Comparability	138	91							229
Amortization Of Collaboration Proceeds [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Charges and Credits Affecting Comparability	(68)	(46)							(114)
Amortization Of Purchase Price Inventory Adjustment [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Charges and Credits Affecting Comparability	14	9							23
Stock Compensation From Accelerated Vesting Of Awards [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Charges and Credits Affecting Comparability		94							94
Process Standardization Implementation Costs [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Charges and Credits Affecting Comparability	2	3	5	8	10	5	10	4	18	29
Gain On Sale Of Product Lines Businesses And Assets [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Charges and Credits Affecting Comparability	(51)					(12)			(51)	(12)
Impairment Charge For BMS-986094 Intangible Asset [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Charges and Credits Affecting Comparability		1,830							1,830
Provision For Restructuring [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Charges and Credits Affecting Comparability	103	29	20	22	24	8	40	44	174	116
Litigation Charges Recoveries [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Charges and Credits Affecting Comparability	55	50	22	(172)	75	10		(76)	(45)	9
Acquisition Related Expenses [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Charges and Credits Affecting Comparability	1	29	1	12					43
Intangible Asset Impairment [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Charges and Credits Affecting Comparability				38					38
Upfront, milestone and other licensing payments [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Charges and Credits Affecting Comparability	16	21			(20)	69	50	88	37	187
Loss On Debt Repurchase [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Charges and Credits Affecting Comparability		8		19					27
In Process Research And Development Impairment [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Charges and Credits Affecting Comparability	39		45	58		13		15	142	28
Pension Curtailment And Settlement Charges [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Charges and Credits Affecting Comparability	$ 151				$ 13				$ 151	$ 13